Ellen Burstyn Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

The American actress Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Interstellar) will be awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 83^rd Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia (September 2 – 12, 2026).

The decision was made by the Board of Directors of La Biennale, on the recommendation of the Artistic Director of the Festival, Alberto Barbera.

Ellen Burstyn in accepting the offer, declared: “Wow! I not only get to travel to one of my top most favorite cities in the whole world. I get to return home carrying a Golden Lion in my arms! The Lifetime Achievement Award from the Venice Film Festival! I feel so honored— so happy — so filled with gratitude! Wow indeed!”

With regard to the award to Ellen Burstyn, Festival’s Artistic Director Alberto Barbera stated: “An actress of rare intensity and truth, Ellen Burstyn has been a presence in American cinema for over fifty years, bringing depth and complexity to unforgettable female characters embodying the contradictions and transformations in the contemporary woman. Revealed in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, which portrayed the twilight of small-town America, and elevated to global stardom by the success of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, Burstyn won the Oscar for Best Actress for Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, the film manifesto about women reclaiming their identity and their freedom. Over the years she worked with some of the most important film directors of the time: Alain Resnais in Providence, Paul Schrader in Hardcore, Bob Rafelson in The King of Marvin Gardens, Paul Mazursky in Alex in Wonderland and Harry and Tonto, Darren Aronofsky in Requiem for a Dream and Christopher Nolan in Interstellar, to mention just some of the 150 films she starred in. President of the Actors Studio, Burstyn made fragility and methodical discipline the tools of an approach to acting grounded in emotional truth, attentiveness and generosity toward one’s characters. Her artistry, which could illuminate pain and everyday resilience with dignity, irony and courage, remains an absolute model of authenticity in performance and civic engagement within the craft of acting.”

The Golden Lion will be awarded to Ellen Burstyn on the occasion of the screening of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s short film Flesh Impact. Dedicated to Marilyn Monroe on the centenary of her birth, the film features yet another extraordinary performance by the actress, showcasing her uncommon talent as a performer. The film’s cast also includes Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, and Sepideh Moafi. Johnson portrays Monroe at the height of her fame, while Burstyn stars as a version of Marilyn the world never got the chance to see. Flesh Impact takes its title from a phrase once used to describe Marilyn Monroe's aura - that she looked so real and luminous on camera that viewers felt they could touch her through the screen.

Ellen Burstyn's illustrious sixty year acting career encompasses film, stage and television. In 1975, she became the third woman in history to win both a Tony Award and an Academy Award in the same year for her work in Same Time, Next Year on Broadway and in the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, for which she also received a Golden Globe nomination and a British Academy Award for Best Actress. She became a “triple crown winner” when she received her first Emmy for a guest appearance on Law & Order: SVU (2009). She won her second Emmy for her role in the miniseries Political Animals (2013). Additionally, she has received six Emmy nominations and five Academy Award nominations, including her nomination for Best Actress in The Exorcist (1973). Ellen recently reprised her role as "Chris MacNeil" in the film’s sequel The Exorcist: Believer (2023) and co-stars with Ewan McGregor in the independent feature Mother Couch directed by Niclas Larsson. Ellen will next star alongside Taika Waititi in Kornél Mundruczó’s Place To Be. Recent television projects include The First Lady (2022) and Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021-2025). Among her most recent films are Mother, Couch (2023), Three Months (2022), Queen Bees (2021), Pieces of a Woman (2020), Welcome to Pine Grove! (2019), Lucy in the Sky (2019), Nostalgia (2018), The Tale (2018) and The House of Tomorrow (2017). Her past work includes The Last Picture Show (1971, Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations), Resurrection (1981) for which she was nominated for an academy award, and Requiem for a Dream (2000, Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations). In 2014, she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. She also starred in 33 Variations in Melbourne. Ellen is currently co-president of the Actors Studio alongside Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin. She holds four honorary doctorates and lectures throughout the country. In 2006, she became a national best-selling author with the publication of her memoir, Lessons in Becoming Myself.  Her 2026 book Poetry Says It Better: Poems to Help You Wake Up, which earned her a Kirkus Star, is now available in print and audiobook.